Content notice: some implied homophobia
Lavender had been furious when she and Ron broke up. Mostly because he was in love with Hermione Granger. It stung for your boyfriend to like someone else, even if you'd always known somewhere inside that you weren't destined to be with him forever.
What she hadn't expected after the break up was the seemingly sudden—though not really sudden at all—realization that she didn't even like boys. At first, she had wondered if she was just rebounding to the extreme. It had taken time for her to be sure her feelings were genuine, and it had taken a little longer for her to admit to Parvati how she felt as she didn't want to ruin their friendship, but an impending war did a lot when it came to boosting your courage.
After admitting their feelings, though, they'd made a serious decision to keep their relationship a secret. There was a lot going on with the war, and the last thing they wanted was to make themselves even greater targets because of who they loved. That made it difficult to be together, especially when their friends were adamant on sticking together in large groups whenever possible to protect each other.
Their dormitory became their safe space. With Hermione of with Harry and Ron, it was only the two of them, and the Carrows and Snape couldn't access it even if they'd wanted to, much to their chagrin.
Lavender pulled Parvati closer, relishing the feeling of being able to express themselves in the ways they couldn't for most of the day.
They were so enthralled with each other that neither of them heard the door opening until the intruder cleared their throat.
Lavender and Parvati flew away from each other, but they could only put so much distance between them when they were sitting on the same bed.
Ginny Weasley stood in the doorway, her eyes on a spot on the wall as she spoke.
"Neville's calling for a DA meeting and neither of you were responding to the coins. When no one answered my knock either, I was worried, but uh… I guess I shouldn't have been."
Ginny might have been the only person who could have caught them in such a position and not turned into a blushing mess. In fact, she looked almost amused by the situation, but Lavender was bright red herself. She wanted to tug the sheets off the bed and use them to cover herself even though she and Parvati were both completely clothed.
"Well," Ginny continued, "we're meeting in the Room of Requirement in fifteen minutes. Come if you want, but I can tell the others you're busy."
She left the room before either of them could respond. Lavender and Parvati stared at the door for a moment before sharing a wide-eyed look. It took three seconds for Lavender to fly off the bed and chase after Ginny, Parvati hot on her heels.
"Wait!" Lavender called, making Ginny pause at the bottom of the staircase.
Lavender lowered her voice, not wanting any Gryffindors in the common room to hear her.
"Please don't tell anyone. We want to keep it a secret."
"If the Carrows find out…" Parvati added in a shaky voice.
She was one step up from Lavender and was gripping the other girl's shoulder with one hand as if she needed it to steady herself.
Ginny's brow scrunched together in confusion. She tossed a glance over her shoulder before moving up several stairs to allow for more privacy.
"Why would I tell anyone?" she asked. "It's your business, not mine. Like hell I'm going to let anything get back to the Carrows. What kind of a person do you think I am after everything we've gone through this year?"
It was silent for a moment.
"You really won't tell anyone?" Parvati asked, her grip moving from Lavender's shoulder to wrap around her hand.
"No," Ginny said with a sigh. "You can do that yourself when you want. Now, are you coming to the DA meeting or not?"
Lavender and Parvati shared a look. Though Lavender still felt a little shaky from what could have easily been a disaster, she'd become used to a constant state of anxiety since Snape took over Hogwarts. She and Parvati both nodded at each other, making their decision.
With so much going on every day, they couldn't afford to miss anything.
Ginny didn't say anything else about what she'd see as they walked to the Room of Requirement together.
Prompts:
Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments
Seasonal Challenge - Air Element: Libra - (pairing) Parvati/Lavender
Seasonal Challenge - Audrey's Dessert Challenge: carrot - (character) Ginny Weasley
Word count: 751